13:1 The Lord said to Moses,
13:2 “Consecrate to me all the firstborn. Whatever is the first to open the womb among the people of Israel, both of man and of beast, is mine.”
The idea of this passage is that firstborn was to be set apart to God. Refer to what i have wrote last month in exposition to Exodus 12:29-30 – Midnight Cry; we see the significance of firstborn as the first fruit of all their strength, which means the best.
There are at least 3 things we can see here:
1. Israel was God’s firstborn.
Exodus 4:22 - Then you shall say to Pharaoh, Thus says the Lord, Israel is my firstborn son.
Hence here, when God asks, “whatever is the first to open the womb among the people of Israel”; this is because Israel is considered to be God’s own. We have seen because Israel is God’s firstborn, He saved all the firstborn of Israel from Egypt.
In verse 15 later on we can see that God kills firstborn of Egypt and not firstborn of Israel is because He claims Israel as His own, and that is why we see the reason why they sacrifice all the males that first open the womb, but they redeem their firstborn of their son. If they want their sons to live they have to redeem, they have to make a substitution sacrifice, and that is what God has done for us.
Now the nation was ordered to admit this by sanctifying their firstborn to serve God; and this honoured the fact why God says, “It is mine”. Later on in Number 13:11-13, we will see the responsibility is transferred to the tribe of Levi as a representative of the congregation.
What then is the implication to us today? Who are we? Are we not “Israel in spirituality”? Are we not God’s children / God’s own? If we are His children by adoption, then this verse speaks to us today as well.
2. There is a sense of effort.
The imperative word “consecrate” here is not just giving the best of what we already have, but it also means we have to strive to give the best of what we have not had or achieve.
Here we see another aspect of what the firstborn is: the firstborn is the first to open the womb; He is the first to open the way. There is a sense of effort that we have to do here, a sense of giving sacrifice. This we can see in Christ, as He has died at the cross as the firstborn giving His best to fulfil God’s will by becoming the sacrifice itself. He opens the way for us so that we can live. Is He not the perfect image of God? And who are we? Are we not the image of God, which because of sin that image has been perverted? Rome 8:29 say: “For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers”. The goal of the predestination is to be like Christ, and if He has shown us the examples, should we not follow?
3. A reminder to all generations
Finally, this command serves as a reminder to all generations of when God redeemed Israel, His firstborn. In Luke 2:22-23, we saw that Joseph and Mary brought Jesus to present Him to the Lord to obey what is written here. Just like in point #1, this reminder reminds us today that God wants the best from us, which implied the wholeness of our lives have to be consecrated to God; we have to live purely in the presence of God (Coram Deo) because “it is MINE” God says.
~ Paul Hartono
13:2 “Consecrate to me all the firstborn. Whatever is the first to open the womb among the people of Israel, both of man and of beast, is mine.”
The idea of this passage is that firstborn was to be set apart to God. Refer to what i have wrote last month in exposition to Exodus 12:29-30 – Midnight Cry; we see the significance of firstborn as the first fruit of all their strength, which means the best.
There are at least 3 things we can see here:
1. Israel was God’s firstborn.
Exodus 4:22 - Then you shall say to Pharaoh, Thus says the Lord, Israel is my firstborn son.
Hence here, when God asks, “whatever is the first to open the womb among the people of Israel”; this is because Israel is considered to be God’s own. We have seen because Israel is God’s firstborn, He saved all the firstborn of Israel from Egypt.
In verse 15 later on we can see that God kills firstborn of Egypt and not firstborn of Israel is because He claims Israel as His own, and that is why we see the reason why they sacrifice all the males that first open the womb, but they redeem their firstborn of their son. If they want their sons to live they have to redeem, they have to make a substitution sacrifice, and that is what God has done for us.
Now the nation was ordered to admit this by sanctifying their firstborn to serve God; and this honoured the fact why God says, “It is mine”. Later on in Number 13:11-13, we will see the responsibility is transferred to the tribe of Levi as a representative of the congregation.
What then is the implication to us today? Who are we? Are we not “Israel in spirituality”? Are we not God’s children / God’s own? If we are His children by adoption, then this verse speaks to us today as well.
2. There is a sense of effort.
The imperative word “consecrate” here is not just giving the best of what we already have, but it also means we have to strive to give the best of what we have not had or achieve.
Here we see another aspect of what the firstborn is: the firstborn is the first to open the womb; He is the first to open the way. There is a sense of effort that we have to do here, a sense of giving sacrifice. This we can see in Christ, as He has died at the cross as the firstborn giving His best to fulfil God’s will by becoming the sacrifice itself. He opens the way for us so that we can live. Is He not the perfect image of God? And who are we? Are we not the image of God, which because of sin that image has been perverted? Rome 8:29 say: “For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers”. The goal of the predestination is to be like Christ, and if He has shown us the examples, should we not follow?
3. A reminder to all generations
Finally, this command serves as a reminder to all generations of when God redeemed Israel, His firstborn. In Luke 2:22-23, we saw that Joseph and Mary brought Jesus to present Him to the Lord to obey what is written here. Just like in point #1, this reminder reminds us today that God wants the best from us, which implied the wholeness of our lives have to be consecrated to God; we have to live purely in the presence of God (Coram Deo) because “it is MINE” God says.
~ Paul Hartono
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